Spanish King, Venezuelan
President Reconcile
Visiting Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez
was all smiles and jokes
during his meeting with
Spanish King Juan Carlos
Friday.
When the two met in the
Marivent Palace, the
summer residence of the
Spanish royal family,
Chavez teased about the
hot weather and asked
jokingly "why don't we
go to the beach?"
He shook hands with the
king, who later gave him
a friendly pat on the
arm.
The Venezuelan president
also received a T-shirt
as a gift from the king.
With "Why don't you shut
up" printed on it, the
T-shirt was seen as a
sign of reconciliation
between the two, who had
fallen out at a November
summit in Chile last
year over the very same
words.
King Juan Carlos shouted
"Why don't you shut up"
at Chavez after the
outspoken Venezuelan
leader repeatedly called
former Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Maria
Aznar a "fascist."
The "royal fury" became
so popular that it was
even turned into a
mobile phone ring-tone
downloaded by tens of
thousands in
Spanish-speaking
countries.
Chavez did not forget to
make a joke about that
during his Friday
meeting with the king.
He said lightheartedly
that the king should
give him his half of all
the revenues generated
by downloading the
ring-tone.
Later in the day, the
Venezuelan president
also met Spanish Prime
Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero in
Madrid.
At a joint press
conference after their
meeting, Chavez
expressed thanks for the
warm welcome he has
received in Spain and
said bilateral ties will
move forward with more
cooperation on energy
and immigration issues.
"We have closed a
chapter and are opening,
have opened, another
chapter. And I am
certain that after the
reconciliation better
times are ahead," he
told the Spanish channel
TVE.
His visit to Spain was
the last stop of a
four-nation tour in
Europe which also took
him to Russia, Belarus
and Portugal.
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